Jack Dempsey

Jack "the Manassa Mauler" Dempsey (24 June 1895-31 May 1983) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1919 to 1927, once reigning as heavyweight champion of the world. Dempsey was known for his great punching power and for his aggressive fighting style, and he became one of the most popular boxers in history.

Biography
William Harrison Dempsey was born on 24 June 1895 in Manassa, Colorado, to a Mormon family of Irish, Jewish, and Cherokee descent. His family was poor, so Dempsey spent time at hobo camps and traveling underneath trains. Dempsey became famous while challenging saloon-goers to fights, making bets and winning money through these fights; he used the name "Kid Blackie". Eventually, he became the bodyguard for Senator Thomas Kearns' son, and he attempted to enlist in the US Army during World War I, although he was classified as 4-F, meaning that he was psychologically or physically unfit for duty.

Boxing career
In 1919, Dempsey would become a professional boxer, and he became World Heavyweight Champion due to a major victory that year. On 2 July 1921, he fought in the first million-dollar gate fight in boxing history against former French Army soldier Georges Carpentier, winning in the fourth round; 91,000 people watched the fight, while the Radio Corporation of America broadcast the fight live, the first national radio broadcast in American history. Dempsey would defend his title continuously in 1923, but US Marine Corps veteran Gene Tunney managed to defeat Dempsey in September 1926, a victory for the underdog and a major loss for Dempsey. Dempsey explained the event by telling his wife, "Honey, I forgot to duck." Dempsey was defeated by Tunney during a 1927 rematch, and his loss, coupled with the recent deaths of his brother and sister-in-law in a murder-suicide, led to a distressed Dempsey retiring from boxing.

Post-retirement
After retirement, Dempsey became a hotel owner and restauranteur, opening "Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant" between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan, New York City in 1935. In June 1942, Dempsey joined the US Coast Guard at the time of World War II, and he rose to the rank of Commander in March 1944. Dempsey was an officer aboard an attack transport ship during the Battle of Okinawa in the Pacific Ocean, and he was released from active duty in September 1945 and honorably discharged from the Coast Guard in 1952.

In 1971, Dempsey backed Gene Tunney's son John V. Tunney when he ran for Senator from California as a US Democratic Party politician, while he was also friends with Republican Party-affiliated judge John Sirica, who presided over the Watergate scandal hearings. Dempsey died of heart failure in New York in 1983 at the age of 87.